On August 8th, the principal features of the Karnataka State Education Policy were presented to the public through a press note. It states that the committee was formed in October, 2023. Almost 2 years of deliberation thus went into the drafting of this policy, leaving students/teachers/parents in the lurch. A few of the progressive promises from the SEP that are diametrically opposite to the National Education Policy (NEP), have been highlighted here:
School education:
- Adopt a 2+8+4 structure: 2 years of pre-primary, 8 years of elementary, and 4 years of secondary education.
- Implement a two-language policy: Kannada/Mother Tongue + English.
- Extend RTE coverage to ages 4–18 in a phased manner.
- Discontinue contract/guest teacher appointments.
- Raise education’s share to 30% of total State expenditure.
Higher education
- Apply SC/ST/OBC reservation rules in private Unaided institutions.
- Provide Junior Research Fellowships for Ph.D. students by the state.
Provisions of professional education have broadly conformed to the standards set by the NEP 2020. It remains to be seen whether these lofty promises are implemented. There has to be constant vigilance by the primary stakeholders to ensure it.
